Saints’ Alvin Kamara Named Potential Cap Casuality

Few things are certain in this world; death, taxes and the New Orleans Saints entering the offseason well over the salary cap. Every year the Saints are projected to be well over the salary cap and 2024 is no different.

Right now the Saints are in last place in projected salary cap space. OverTheCap says New Orleans is nearly $84 million over the projected cap. That leaves their front office a lot of work to not only get cap-compliant but also create enough room to add players to the roster.

There are several players the Saints could release right now without penalty to save some money, such as running back James Robinson and linebacker Monty Rice. But a majority of their cap-saving maneuvers will likely come from post-June 1st cuts and restructures.

Every offseason there are some surprising moves made when it comes to players being released and restructured. The Saints will assuredly have a few transactions fall under that category as clearing $84 million is no small task.

One player that could be on the move is running back Alvin Kamara. He was named a potential cap casualty by Matt Okada of NFL.com, and it would be hard to argue against Okada’s rationale for the move.

“It’s wild to say that 1,100 scrimmage yards and six touchdowns was a vast underperformance, but the Kamara that New Orleans extended on a $75 million contract back in 2020 was putting up seasons of around 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns. His 2023 yardage total was actually a career low, and he hasn’t hit double-digit TDs since that 2020 campaign. The Saints would ostensibly have to cut their star running back with a post-June 1 designation, when the move would open up $11.7 million in cap space (despite $7.1M in dead money), but it may be necessary for a team projected to be a league-high $84 million over the cap and an RB carrying the league’s highest cap hit at the position,” wrote Okada.

Paying a running back that kind of money is not a feasible way to build a winning roster. Being able to pay players at that position a premium price has become a luxury not a necessity in the current NFL landscape.

As Okada also mentioned, the Saints are paying a premium for production they are no longer receiving. Kamara is coming off the least productive season of his career as the price tag no longer fits the production.

With veteran Jamaal Williams and second-year back Kendre Miller already in the fold, the Saints have enough depth to compensate for the loss of Kamara. Moving on from him is almost a necessity for the team to clear the necessary space off of their cap.